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production function
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Dictionary of the Social Sciences
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Copyright information© Dictionary of the Social Sciences 2002, originally published by Oxford University Press 2002. (Hide copyright information)
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production function
Production is the act of transforming inputs (labor, capital, land, etc.) into outputs (or finished goods). The relationship between the quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of that good constitutes the production function. The production function has the general form
Q
=
f
(
L
,
K
, … )
where
Q
is output,
L
is labor input,
K
is capital input and where other inputs may also be used. Generally, output increases with the quantity of inputs, and there may be scope for substituting one input for another. For example, a sweater could be knitted by hand with no machinery, or could be knitted on a knitting machine. Some versions—such ...